Business wish creation and collaboration website

ABSTRACT

A method for collecting and collaborating business wishes. The collaboration website will be a tool used to provide a forum wherein users can state their wishes or desires for a business or businesses (existing or non-existing) to be built, modified or enhanced. Additionally, this website will provide users the ability to provide feedback regarding agreement or disagreement of entries by voting and entering comments on submitted business wishes. The purpose is to gain a consensus from interested parties for any given business idea to be developed or change. The votes and comments will then be analyzed and communicated to businesses owners, developers and city/county management to erect, modify or enhance businesses.

BACKGROUND

A significant number of people in society have a desire to build, have built or improve businesses in various areas. At other times, they want to have businesses deconstructed, changed or relocated. This problem is their desires are not communicated or communicated effectively due to no centralized and unified collaborative tool or system that provide a means to discuss these desires and gain a consensus from others to incite effective action. Therefore, the community input regarding their desires go unheard and unaddressed. A tool could be utilized to collect large amounts of data, provide analysis of the information, and then, communicated to entities that could possibly take action to build, improve or remove businesses in an effort to meet the expressed needs of the people.

Online activity of users collaborating with one another through the use of web applications generates valuable and powerful information concerning their needs & interests. Such data and analytics therein extracted can potentially provide business professionals with useful information regarding new development or changes to existing businesses. Facebook, for example, identified the need for individuals to collaborate via the Internet for various reasons and leveraged this demand through use of an online, web application tool. In addition, the collected data analytics from users, along with, collaboration functionality demonstrates the need for online collaboration tools.

Members of society want more community involvement and a voice concerning business and product availability. Whether it's along the way of a commute or nearby in a neighborhood, city or place of work. Too often communities, cities and towns are built without input or regard for citizens, residents or even visitors. Their wishes could be collected to stimulate construction, enhancements or improvements or deconstruction in their city, neighborhood, town, local community, county, state, etc. This information needs to be captured and displayed perhaps in a chart or other graphical forms based on categories to provide a quick and easy analytical view for interested parties. These categories could cover many entities such as; eateries, parks, entertainment, etc. and draw interest of business professionals, city planners & leaders or developers thereby encouraging action.

Online maps are becoming more and more essential to daily life. They're used in many ways to help users with directions, locating services and much more. There are many undiscovered uses that could even further help members of society. A tool needs to provide map (preferably interactive) capability that will allow users the option to identify a location for their business wish to identify where they would like the business to be built.

User security and identify theft is another concern in today's environment. Users want protection from cyber theft. Therefore, user profiles are becoming increasingly necessary to provide protection of user information. In many cases, they are required. User profiles also provide necessary discloser of users and liability protection for business owners through sign-up and acceptance of protective terms and agreements. In addition, the need to manage tool usage, obtain demographic analytic information and interaction among users is vital. Users need to create user profiles in order to identify themselves as they collaborate with other online users. Members of society need effective two-way communication.

Communication between members of society and business professionals is either limited or non-existence. Very few individuals know when a prospective business is being considered for particular area at all or well enough in advance to voice an opinion. Nor do they know of plans for construction or deconstruction are proposed or finalized. Most discover what a business under construction is during the final stages of assembly. Therefore, allowances for messaging services are needed to keep users abreast of what others are doing and thinking. By proactive collaboration this allows individuals to see if others agree or disagree on prospective changes. Thus, polling information and statistics need to be analyzed and sent to interested parties. Messaging services between users and systems pertaining to business subject matter is essential.

Historical information is sometimes hard to obtain. This information is vital for analytics which helps with understanding demographical and categorical needs. Trends and patterns could be readily identified and assessed for needed changes. This collaboration tool will store website data for a specified period. Multiple years of data will be collected, analyzed and stored to help identify business wishes. City officials, planners, developers and business building professionals could have centralized bank of information to review and help determine development needs and opportunity.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The following description and drawings are illustrative and are not to be interpreted as limiting. Several specific details are described to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosure. However, in some instances, conventional details are not described in order to evade obscuring the description. References to one or an embodiment in the current disclosure can be, but not necessarily are, references to the same embodiment. Such references mean at least one of the embodiments.

Reference in this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in association with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the disclosure. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Additionally, various features are defined which may be exhibited by some embodiments and not by others. Similarly, various requirements are described which may be requirements for some embodiments but no other embodiments.

The terms used in this specification generally have their ordinary meanings in the art, within the context of the disclosure, and in the specific context where each term is used. Certain terms that are used to describe the disclosure are discussed below, or elsewhere in the specification, to provide additional guidance to the practitioner regarding the description of the disclosure.

Consequently, alternative language and synonyms may be used for any one or more of the terms discussed herein, nor is any special importance to be placed upon whether or not a term is elaborated or discussed herein. Synonyms for certain terms are provided. A repeat of one or more synonyms does not dismiss the use of other synonyms. The use of examples anywhere in this specification including examples of any terms discussed herein is illustrative only, and is not intended to further limit the scope and meaning of the disclosure or of any demonstrated term. Likewise, the disclosure is not limited to various embodiments given in this specification.

Without intent to further limit the scope of the disclosure, examples of instruments, apparatus, methods and their related results according to the embodiments of the present disclosure are given below. Note that titles or subtitles may be used in the examples for convenience of a reader, which in no way should limit the scope of the disclosure. Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure concerns. In the case of conflict, the present document, including definitions will control.

Embodiment of the present disclosure includes a method and system for expressing, collecting, viewing, analyzing, collaborating and storing comprehensive business wish data. The embodiment includes a high-level system configuration outlining some of the essential components necessary in processing the data for tool development. The embodiments of the business wish collaboration tool provides a mean for identifying potential sites for business wishes of concerned and interested parties. This will include the ability for users to utilize interactive or non-interactive map functionality viewing and location designation services. The embodiment includes a mean for parties to express agreement or disagreement for submitted business wishes thereby allowing collaboration among users, a mean for analyzing business wishes comparing voter responses, counts and demographics. The messaging component will provide communication to users in order to provide awareness and keep up with business wish entries, votes, remarks comments, etc. Messaging functionality will provide users with up-to-date notification of entries, changes, responses, etc. and stimulating collaboration. The database capability allows for long-term storage of data which could potentially be large and cover multiple years of information. This tool collectively and uniformly gathers business wishes, categorizes response, conducts systematic analysis, provides automatic messaging services and stores the information for a specified length of time. This essentially provides a bank of useful information for city officials and business professionals to consider in preliminary and post discussion concerning business development or changes.

BRIEF DECRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 Illustrates a web browser for accessing the home page website via the internet.

FIG. 2 Illustrates a web browser for routing options on the landing page through the website.

FIG. 3 Illustrates a web browser depicting the collaboration environment where users can submit and view business wish information, along with, identifying potential locations on an interactive map.

FIG. 4. Illustrates a web browser for locating entries on a map.

FIG. 5 Illustrates a web browser for creating a user profile.

FIG. 6. Illustrates the work flow of basic process steps used to view information and collaborate with other uses throughout the system.

FIG. 7 Illustrates the system architecture including the user & map interfaces and components.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description and associated figures explain the embodiment of the invention. For the purpose of explaining the inventive principles, some aspects of the best mode of the embodiment may be simplified or omitted. The following information specifies the scope of the invention. This invention is not limited to the specific information described below.

FIG. 1 illustrates the home page 100 which is displayed after users access the collaboration website. Users will enter the website address in an address bar on the internet. The website 701 can also be accessed through a mobile friendly application 702 that is internet capable. The mobile application user interface will be a simplified version of the website 701 which can be used to view and collaborate business wishes quickly and efficiently 300. Desktop computers 703 or any internet capable device can be used to access the website.

Limited business wish submitted entries 301 will be displayed on this page 104. A graphical display such as a pie chart depicting categories 105 corresponding from business wish entry categories 302 will be displayed on the home page with a filter 106 for narrowing down displayed information. Existing users can log into the website using an email address 101 and a password 102. New users will need to click the “Create a user profile” button 103 to create a user profile to access the website 103. The new users will then be routed to the user profile page 500 and submit a profile. Advertisements will also be displayed on the home page 107.

FIG. 2 illustrates the refreshed home page 200 with new options for further website access. Users can enter a business wish 201 or locate a business wish 201 after a successful sign in or creation of a new user profile. Business wish entries 203 are refreshed along with business wish entries by industry pie chart. The filter 205 for the landing page remains available. Advertisements 206 will also be available on the landing page.

FIG. 3 illustrates the collaboration environment 300. In this forum users can submit business wishes for evaluation and express their opinions on any given business wish. Users can enter business wishes 301, business wish categories 302, business wish details 303, a perspective location on a map 305 and reasons why 304 that substantiate their submission. Users can send a link 306 to anyone who has an email address if they want additional opinions or external support. After a successful business wish submission, a popup display informing the user that the business wish entry was successful. Users will be able to submit another business wish entry 307 if they so choose. Users in a viewer role can vote to agree or disagree 308 on a business wish entry and enter a comment 309 that explains why the user in a viewer role agrees or disagrees. Users can view the related business wish entry statistics 309 in the Business wish poll and comment count section. Users can quickly analyze and assess the status of the corresponding business wish entries by viewing the bar chart 309 or other graphical display. The bar chart or graphical display will contain a breakdown based on how many users agree, disagree along with submitted comments if they were included. The graphical display or bar chart will also contain the age and gender demographics based on the user profile 501 not shown in FIG. 3. The bar chart will also show percentages of agree and disagree votes and show a count of how many times the link 309 was shared. The viewer comment section will show how many comments were entered for the corresponding business wish entry 310. The calendar date range will be displayed 311 and the calendar function will allow filtering by date 312. The calendar button will allow date range selection functionally 312. An additional filter for agree, disagree or both categories 313 will provide another means of filtering on the comments. A “locate a business wish” button 314 will allow users to move back to the business wish locator page.

FIG. 4 illustrates the business wish locator page 400. This page allows users to view other business wish entries on a map 404. The map key illustrates a star symbol for a quick visual reference of business wish locations on the map 406. Users can enter specific location information such as, but not limited to; street, city, zip code, county, state, etc. 401. A system generated BW # (Business Wish number) will be assigned as users enter business wishes 301. Upon successful entry of a business wish the BW# field can be used to quickly find a specific business wish 402. A button 403 will be provided on this page to allow users to select the business wish entry page 300. Space will be provided for announcements and advertisements 405.

FIG. 5 illustrates the user profile web page 500. Users will be able to enter business wishes upon successful creation of a user profile 500. Users will need to fill out and enter the specified fields in the “Create your user profile” section 501 and select their desired email communication in the “Desired correspondence” section 502. Upon submission, users will be provided with a copy of the terms and conditions for acceptance. After acceptance of the terms and conditions, the user will be provided with a notice of success. Then users will have permissions to submit and enter business wishes comments and remarks.

FIG. 6 Illustrates the work flow of business processes as users navigate through the system 600. User will access the website via the internet 701. Users can use a mobile application, desktop or any tool that has internet capability 601. User will have the options of logging into the system using their email and password 602 or continue accessing allowable webpages, but will not be able to enter business wishes, comments and remarks. Users that need to create a login in ID will be routed to the user profile page 603. Users will fill out the necessary information 604 and then have website entry functionality. The user can enter a business wish 605 or select a location using the locator page 612.

Following the flow of a user wanting to submit a business wish 606, the user will fill out the specified information and submit 607. In this process, the user selects the categories 608. The user selects the detail 609 for providing more specific information. The user can enter the location on an interactive or non-interactive map 610. The interactive map will be supported through and external service if available. The user can enter their supporting reasons 611. If the user wants to locate a business wish 612, they will select the locator page and enter 613. This page can be used in more than one manner. Users can click on the star symbol and then will be sent to that particular business wish 615 or, they can enter specified information and will be taken to that particular business wish entry 614. Users routed to a business wish can view and vote to agree or disagree 616 on a business wish entry. Users can view 617 and enter comments 619 or view statistics on the comment 618.

FIG. 7 illustrates the system architecture 700. The architecture comprises of a web interface 701 (which contains the mobile application 702 and web-responsive desktop application 703) supporting the collaboration forum 700, a messaging component 704, an analyzing component 705, a mapping component which will be comprised of either a non-interactive or interactive map interface 706, a voting component 710 which will provide functionality and collection of user agreement and disagreement votes, a processing unit 711 for processing the business wishes, an application and database servers 708 and database 709 for routing and storing data. The system and components thereof will be hosted on the cloud 707. The cloud services will provide hosting flexibility in support of ease of maintenance and future system upgrades.

The user interface 701 will provide internet access and contain the collaboration forum 301 and allows user to submit and express opinions for a particular business wish. The mobile application 702 will provide quick entry of business wish submission and locating functionality. The mapping component 706 will provide business wish location viewing and plot capability. The map will provide both non-interactive and interactive functionality. The interactive map will entail configuring an external interface to be used in conjunction with the system thus allowing for up-to-date map information. The voting component 710 will provide means for other users to evaluate submitted business wish entries. This component will route voting information to necessary components for viewing 701, messaging 704, analytics 705, storage 709, etc. as part of the processing unit 711. The analyzing component 705 provides business logic for the analysis function. It will process demographic information contained in the user profile, along with, polling information (i.e. agree and disagree votes) and compute information to determine validity of business wish entry This mathematical output of counts percentages, etc. by demographics will be displayed 309 and stored 709. The messaging component will provide email functionally 704 to and from: system & user, user & user and administrator & user. The processing unit 711 embodies the system and all of the components working in concert to process and communicate business wishes. The server 708 will provide application and database information routing functionality. The database 709 will provide information storing capability. The business wish data will be stored for an unspecified amount of time depending on necessity and database space. 

What is claimed:
 1. A method for systematically processing collected business wish ideas retrieved from an internet controlled network that includes self-managed system user profiles. This information it automatically fed into a processing unit. The processing unit and system components work in concert to produce an output of consumable, collective and validated consumer wish data. Said collection and processing system comprised of: A user interface for providing system access. A voting component for providing polling services. An analyzing component for determining interest level, support level and validation. A mapping component for viewing and identifying business site locations. A messaging component for communicating system information. A server for routing information to and from the application and database. A database for storing system data.
 2. A method for systematically gathering, analyzing, messaging, plotting and documenting business wishes in a collaborative and uniform manner. This method includes leveraging a forum that permits collaboration among users (whether in agreement or not) of submitted business wishes for consensus building, validation and action. This forum provides an environment where users can notate their wishes for a business entity improvement, construction or enhancement at a specified location such as; a city, neighborhood, town, community, county, state, street or location of their desire. Users submit business wishes which are displayed in the collaboration environment. Interested parties are then able to view submissions and determine support by utilizing the polling functionality in the voting component. The mapping component is configured to allow for business wish viewing of entries and location designation. The analysis component is configured to provide systematic analysis based on polling information and user profile demographics. The messaging component is configured to provide system communication to and from users, as well as, user to user in order to provide up-to-date business development information and stimulate additional collaboration. The database component is configured to provide the mean to store potentially historical information. These components are configured to work in concert to produce meaningful and measurable information concerning business wishes for business professionals and city officials to assess and take action based on a collective uniform body of opinions.
 3. The method of claim 2 wherein a user of the tool can determine and identify a location for a business wish by means of a mapping component.
 4. The method of claim 2 wherein a user can use a voting component to agree or disagree on a business wish entry.
 5. The method of claim 2 wherein a user can view system generated analytics to analyze business wish entries by means of an automated system analytical component.
 6. The method of claim 2 wherein users can send and receive messages regarding business wish entries by means of a messaging component. 